Pandora Celtica
by Hyasinth
Summary: Skryin is mysteriously transported to the world of faeries. Where she meets a group of five friendly fae and a not so friendly prince. The prince seeks her out while her relationship with the other five faeries blossoms. Will she be able to continue with her new friends or will the prince find her. my first story so please be nice
1. Chapter 1

A.N.: I did not invent the characters Requiem, Nessa, Rubiee, Discordia, or ShadowCat.

Skyrin listened the pounding of her feet against the frozen earth as she ran. Her ragged breathing almost blocked out the sounds of hoof beats behind her, but not enough that she couldn't hear them fast approaching. Skyrin's breath caught in her throat as she heard them growing close behind. She mustered up all of her strength for an extra burst of speed, but her attempt was futile. She felt a strong arm around her waist, and she was lifted up onto a horse. She felt a hand around her mouth and heard a voice in her ear.

"Relax, I'm here to help you," came the deep male voice. Skyrin nodded and lost consciousness.

Skyrin woke up to sunlight streaming through a window and onto her face. Her memory was not fully intact, but a few fleeting images came back to her. She remembered a large tree, being passed between people, and a group of unfamiliar faces. As her vision cleared, she realized that three of the faces were now before her. There was a woman who looked to be in about her 20's with red hair and a belt full of keys. She looked at Skyrin with curiosity. Skyrin's eyes roved to a woman who was older than the first, with dark hair and covered in leaves. Her eyes held concern. Skyrin noticed the youngest last. She was a small girl with light red hair; she seemed to be bouncing on her toes and gazed at skyrin with an excited curiosity.

"She's awake!" squealed the youngest, smallest one.

"Shh, Nessa. You'll scare her," gently said the dark haired woman, "Are you all right dear?" she addressed Skyrin.

"Where am I?" asked Skyrin.

"You're a human, aren't you?" said the small one. It wasn't exactly the answer that Skyrin had been hoping for.

"Well, yeah, but…" started Skyrin before she was cut off by one of the women.

"How did you get to this side of the veil?"

"I don't know what that is. I don't even know where I am. I fell asleep under a tree and woke up in a meadow surrounded by men on horses," responded Skyrin.

"What did the men look like?" asked the oldest woman.

"They were all tall and thin, with black cloaks. There was this one in particular. He had black hair and silver eyes. Most of them had black horses, but his was white," recounted Skyrin. At her answer the women all exchanged nervous glances.

"What happened?" asked the woman with the bright red hair.

"Well," started Skyrin, "I fell asleep under a tree and woke up in a frozen meadow with the men. They tried to make me come with them. I begged them to let me go but, they wouldn't. So I ran away and they chased me. Then some other man saved me and I woke up here."

"When you were begging, you didn't make any deals did you?"

"I don't think so."

"You have to be exact Skyrin."

"How do you know my name?"

"I'll tell you later, right now you have to answer my question."

"No, I don't even know you people. I'm not telling you anything."

"Please, Skyrin, we just want to help you." Skyrin thought about it for a minute, but could tell be the women's faces that it was probably a good idea to trust them.

"Well, I said that I would do anything if they would let me go, but they never agreed and they didn't let me go." The women seemed truly alarmed now. They were all looking at each other and some were looking at Skyrin sympathetically. The woman with the keys finally stepped forward and began to explain.

"Okay, here's the whole story, you are in the world of the Fae. That tree must have been an opening in the veil. The man that tried to take you with him was prince Tallyn of the winter court. Word is that his mother is making him find a wife. We expect that that is why he tried to take you with him. He must have been watching you and maybe even led you to the opening. Faeries take deals very seriously. They are binding and unbreakable in this world. Now, you have a little problem, you accidentally made a deal with him. There is no way that you could have escaped, so that means he let you go and if he ever finds you, you will have to do or give him anything that he asks. Now, let us introduce ourselves. My name is Rubiee, member of the winter court and mistress of the keys. I'm also a pooka and glitter bomber extraordinaire. "

"I'm Nessa," exclaimed the small one. "I'm a nixie and an anthropologist(I study humans). I also belong to the spring court."

"What's a nixie?" asked Skyrin.

"It's a type of water faerie," responded Nessa, "and that's Discordia she…"continued Nessa before Rubiee put a hand over her mouth and the dark haired woman spoke.

"I can introduce myself Nessa. I'm Discordia, the autumn court archivist."

"There's also ShadowCat and Requiem. You've already met them."

"I have?"

"Yep. ShadowCat is part of the summer court. He's a satyr and the prince of dreams, that's how you met him."

"In my dreams?"

"Uhuh."

"Isn't that a little invasive?"

"That's what we try to him, but sometimes the whole seeing peoples' dreams thing comes in handy," said Nessa.

"And who'd Requiem?"

"He's the knight who saved you. He doesn't belong to a court," said Rubiee.

"Okay. Um, do you think that I can go back to sleep. This is a lot to take in."

"Of course dear," said Discordia. As Discordia and Nessa left the room, Rubiee walked up to Skyrin bent down to talk to her.

"Just a warning, you might want to be careful around Requiem."

"Why? He doesn't seem bad, he saved me after all."

"He's not bad, he just has a thing for pretty young girls." Leaving it at that, Rubiee turned and left the room. Skyrin fell asleep quickly after, and dreamt of handsome knights wicked princes.


	2. Chapter 2

A.N.: Hi, I'm sorry that it took me so long to post this. I've been really busy and my computer's been being stupid. I also apologize if it's not as good as the other chapters, it was kind of rushed.

Skyrin woke up in the middle of the night. Her room was dark, with a stream of moonlight filtering in through the window. As she looked around the room, she noticed a tall figure standing in the back of her room. He took a few steps forward into the moonlight. Skyrin recognized the man from her dreams. This was Requiem, the courtless knight who had saved her. She studied his features in the moonlight. His brown hair was pushed back from his face and probably set that way by the hat he now held under his arm. He had light blue eyes and a square jaw. Skyrin took in his white poet shirt and purple kilt. As she was studying him, he spoke.

"Hello, Skyrin."

"Hi Requiem," came Skyrin's soft reply.

"I figured that I should come and check to see if you were okay."

"I'm fine," said Skyrin, who continued to study Requiem. Requiem realized what Skyrin was doing and smirked. She noticed and lowered her eyes. There was just something about him that made her act strange. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, though. Perhaps that is why Rubiee gave her a warning. Skyrin's head continued to spin with thoughts until, yet again, Requiem's voice woke her from her musings.

"Well, if you're all right, I suppose that I should let you sleep," said Requiem before exiting the room. Again, Skyrin fell into a sleep of knights and princes until morning. When she woke up again, Skyrin slid out of the bed she was in and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She walked around the room and came to a mirror. At first she didn't recognized herself. The curly auburn hair was the same, so were the teal eyes that stared back at her, but something just didn't seem the same. She figured that this new place must have been changing her.

Skyrin opened the door to her room and began to walk down a long hallway with five doors along it. She could hear laughter somewhere. Once she reached the end of the hall, Skyrin saw the five faeries sitting around a table eating something.

"Skyrin, you're awake!" yelled Nessa.

"Are you hungry dear?" asked Discordia.

"No, I'm fine."

"You should at least sit down," said Rubiee. The five faeries and human looked around and noticed that all five chairs were occupied.

"She can have mine," said Requiem as he began to stand up. Skyrin walked over and sat down in the now-vacant chair.

"Thank you for letting me stay the night. I guess that you want me to leave now."

"Absolutely not," said Nessa, "Not with that prince after you. You can stay here as long as it takes for you to get home. It's not like this is one of our court homes anyway."

"Then where is this?"

"It's a spot between the four courts. It's kind of like a clubhouse. We all have other homes but stay here together sometimes," explained ShadowCat.

"How long will it be before I get to go home?" asked Skyrin. Everyone got quiet. It didn't seem like anyone wanted to answer her. Skyrin could tell that she wouldn't like the answer. She was about to say something, then Rubiee spoke.

"The part of the veil that you came through only opens once every year."

"You mean I have to stay here for a whole year?"

"A year in our time. It will be longer for the humans."

"How long?"

"It's hard to tell, but probably about five years."

"What will my family think if I'm gone for five years and then come back having not aged."

"They'll probably just assume that you've been kidnapped of mysteriously disappeared. That's what humans usually assume. And you not aging will probably go unnoticed because your only sixteen now." Skyrin felt her stomach drop as they explained. She couldn't just leave her family with no explanation for five years. Maybe she could find some other way to get back home sooner. In the meantime she just needed to be alone. Skyrin stood up and went tearing out of the little house. She ran out of a door and into the frozen meadow in front.


	3. Chapter 3

Skyrin came stumbling outside into the blinding sunlight and biting chill. She sank down against the frozen bark of an old oak tree and buried her face in her hands. She had made up her mind to make the best of the situation, but that was easier said than done. How exactly was she supposed to do that? She couldn't leave her family to wonder what had happened to her, and she definitely couldn't ask these people to keep her there. She would only be a burden. Perhaps it would be easier for everyone if she were simply to take off running. There were woods behind the house, she could just take off. Maybe the prince would find her, then all of her new friends wouldn't have to take care of her, and she would never find herself under Requiem's strange spell again.

"Don't do it," came a voice from behind her, waking her from her musings. It was ShadowCat.

"How did you know what I was planning?"

"I am the Prince of Dreams, that includes daydreams," he stated.

"Oh. Well why shouldn't I?"

"It wouldn't help anybody. You're stuck here either way, and that would also mean that Prince Tallyn got what he wanted. Not one of us likes him, not even Rubiee and she's part of his mother's court," he paused for a moment, then continued, "You should come inside. Winter in our world is quite unforgiving."

Skyrin lingered behind as ShadowCat left. She didn't know whether or not to heed ShadowCat's advice, but before she could decide, the cold made up her mind for her. She hopped up, brushed herself off, and walked back inside.

When Skyrin walked through the door she was met with concerned looks from the five faeries around the table.

"Are you okay?" asked Nessa.

"Mmhhmm," answered Skyrin with a nod. After one more glance around the room, she turned and went back to her room.

Once back behind her closed door, Skyrin flopped down on her bed. With a sigh, she fell into a sweet sleep where she could be free of her troubles in the real world. While engulfed in yet another dream of when she first arrived in the world of the Fae, Skyrin ran into a familiar face, and suddenly her dream was spiraling away from her until she was in a new one. In this new dream she was in a wedding dress, walking down the aisle towards a smirking Prince Tallyn. From there, the dream jumped to her life beyond that. She was a princess and living in a palace, but she was miserable. She knew this was what her life would be like if she ran off and were found by the prince. She again saw the face flash and she was back in her original dream, only this time she knew how to fight. She turned on her heel and shot the prince dead in the center of the chest. She had her moment of glory, but then the dream was once again spiraling away and she woke up. She was sure that ShadowCat had sent her that dream. He must have sent it to show her the options that she had. She had to say that she much preferred the second one. She would learn to fight.

When Skyrin returned from her room to the Kitchen, she found that everyone had left. Everyone except for Requiem, that is. He stood against the wall, watching her. Now was her opportunity.

"Requiem?" she asked. He cocked his head at her.

"Need something, Sweetheart?"

"Yes actually."

"Now, what could you want from me?" he said in a way that sent shivers down Skyrin's spine.

"Um, could you teach me how to fight?"

"Why would you need to learn how to fight?"

"Well, I figured that just in case the prince somehow finds me, I could do something about it. ShadowCat thought that I should." As she spoke, Requiem took a few steps towards her. He looked her up and down, examining her.

"You'd be good at archery, or maybe a knife. Yes, I can teach you. We can't have anyone around while you train, so we can train while the others are all at their courts." Something about the idea of being alone with Requiem both frightened and excited her. She was both terrified and couldn't wait. While she was too busy working out her feelings, Requiem continued to talk,

"When would you like to start?" He repeated himself twice before she responded.

"Sorry, what was that?" She blushed as her smirked. "Oh, um, we can start now, I guess." He turned without responding and began to walk away. When he realized that she wasn't following, he turned around.

"Are you coming?" This time she followed as he began to walk away. What was wrong with her, why couldn't she do anything when she was around him? He walked over to the middle of three doors on the right side of the hallway leading to her room. He opened the door and went in. She followed.

The room had a simple wooden bed with a red cover and pillows. Along the silver wall was an impressive arsenal of swords, knives, bows, arrows, and a bunch of weapons that she couldn't even identify. She had expected this, but what was on the other side of the room surprised her. Next to a simple dresser was a desk covered in stacks of books, papers, quills, and ink. Upon closer inspection, Skyrin realized that all of the books and papers were full of poetry. The papers were covered in an elegant, loopy handwriting that Skyrin figured was Requiem's. As she began to read some of the poetry, requiem hurried over and arranged the papers so that she could no longer see them.

"Well, let's go start on your lessons," Requiem hurriedly stated. He led Skyrin out of a door to a practice zone of sorts. On top of the frozen field sat a few targets, dummies, and a fighting ring. Requiem led Skyrin to one of the targets and handed her a bow and a few arrows.

"So how exactly do you do this?"

"Give it your best try." Skyrin was confused for a moment, but quickly fumbled around with the bow until she was in what she thought was proper positioning. Requiem stepped up behind her and kicked her back leg. He put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her back in until she was engaging her shoulder and back muscles as well. Finally, he removed the arrow from the bow and turned it around. "Shoot," he said. And so Skyrin closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and released the arrow. It went sailing into the target and stuck with a slight thunk. It was way off from the center, but Skyrin couldn't care less. She had just shot her first arrow and she hadn't somehow killed herself. That was an accomplishment in itself. She whipped her head around to look at Requiem. His usually unreadable mask showed a slight hint of amusement. He handed her another arrow and she tried again. This time she managed to get the arrow to hit with absolutely no help from Requiem. Her aim would definitely need work, but she could not hide her joy at the fact that she could shoot an arrow. Even Requiem seemed pleased by her apparent ability, or maybe he was just amused by her reaction. She didn't care either way. She was so excited by the whole thing that she instantly grabbed another arrow and shot again, but her joy was short lived. The next arrow missed completely.

"You need to focus," Requiem stated from behind her. "You can't ever lose focus on the battlefield." Skyrin nodded. She didn't think that he realized how hard he was making it for her to follow his own advice. She took a deep breath and tried another shot. It was the best one yet. She had no idea how great she could be when she really put in an effort and recognized her own talent. This world was doing some crazy things to her.

"Are these arrows enchanted or something?" Skyrin asked, only half joking.

"Unless one of the others enchanted them while I was not paying attention, then no, and I highly doubt that any of them did. Nessa and Rubiee are the only ones who would do that, but Nessa knows that she would not enjoy the consequences if she were caught in my room, and Rubiee knows that she would get caught. Skyrin don't doubt yourself, you're better than you think," he looked into her eyes for a moment and Skyrin couldn't help but feel something stir within her, but then she remembered Rubiee's warning.

"I think that I've learned enough for today," said Skyrin before running off into the house.


	4. Chapter 4

After about a week Skyrin fell into a routine she would eat breakfast with everyone, learn to fight after most of them left for their courts, then act like nothing happened. Usually the court faeries returned soon after they left and they would all talk or go for walks in the woods, but sometimes they didn't and Skyrin would be left alone with Requiem. They would usually just do extra training on those days, but sometimes Requiem had to leave too. When Skyrin was left completely alone, she would practice some of the time, but she spent most of the time reading, or exploring. There was a shelf of books in the front room that Skyrin loved to look through. As she learned more about where she was, she began to feel more comfortable about where she was.

When Skyrin explored, she was always careful not to wander too far. She knew that this world could be dangerous, especially with the prince after her. She would usually go about one hundred yards into the forest with a book. She would read while she listened to the breeze in the tree tops. She was always careful though. She would usually grab a knife from the training area and keep her ears open for anything. She also had to be careful to be back inside before the others came back. She knew that if they found her outside, Discordia would scold her.

And so the routine went, socialize, train, and read. Though one day the routine was broken. Skyrin met Requiem outside for training, but there weren't any weapons laid out. Requiem didn't even have his sword strapped to his belt.

"Training is going to be a little bit different today," said Requiem.

"Are we doing hand to hand combat or something?"

"No. Today we'll be working on escape and avoidance. You'll be going off into the forest and I'll try to catch you. Try not to let me." Skyrin raised her hand. "What is it Skyrin?"

"What classifies as caught?"

"If I get you back to the house, you've been caught. I'll give you a five minute head start. Your time starts now." Skyrin turned on her heel and bolted into the woods. She figured that the best plan of action would be to get as far away from the pursuer as possible. Skyrin continued to run through the forest, feeling tree branches tearing at her hair. Skyrin came to a tall tree above a creek, she'd never been so deep into the forest. Figuring it would be a bad idea to go further, Skyrin jumped up, grabbed a branch, and began to climb. Skyrin continued climbing, and before she knew it she was fifty feet in the air. She was never particularly fond of heights, so she decided to stay where she was.

Skyrin felt safe up in her tree until she heard the pounding of hoof beats below her. She looked down and saw Requiem preparing to climb after her. Considering that it was the end of winter and the trees were barren, Skyrin was not well hidden. It probably would have been a better idea to stay on the ground, but Skyrin was already in a tree and there was nothing that she could do about it. She stood up on her branch and grabbed another branch, preparing to climb down the other side. Requiem continued to climb higher until he was halfway up to her. Skyrin swung around to the other side and began to climb down. Requiem was just below her and could grab her foot if he was able to reach for her, but it was obvious that Requiems strength was on a horse and not in a tree. Skyrin was able to move just out of his reach before he was stable enough to grab for her. Skyrin continued to scramble down the tree until she fell out from about ten feet above the ground. She landed on her left arm and had to get up using only one arm, but she still managed to get up before Requiem got down, and darted off into the woods again. Requiem got down and back on his horse just in time to see Skyrin's auburn hair disappear into the woods. He decided to loop around the other way and find her. He pulled the reigns and sent his horse off into the woods.

Meanwhile, Skyrin was on yet another mad dash. She listened to her feet pounding the cold dirt and felt the chilled air in her strained lungs. Skyrin continued to run until she realized that she was on a path that she recognized. There was a small cave just west of where she was. Skyrin made a left turn and picked up speed. With the cave in sight, Skyrin blindly ran, only to feel a familiar strong arm around her waist. Next thing she knew, she was up on a horse, pressed against a familiar form.

"Who said you could use a horse?"

"No one said that I couldn't," said Requiem as he pulled Skyrin tighter against him. The movement put pressure on Skyrin's hurt arm and she winced. Seeing that she was in pain, Requiem slowed the horse to a trot, and Skyrin saw her opportunity. She elbowed Requiem and loosened his grip around her. Skyrin jumped off the horse and landed awkwardly on the ground. She rolled to the side, pushed herself up, and took off again.

Skyrin's move jump had startled Requiem's horse and given her time to run while it recovered. She knew that she was going to regret elbowing him, but she decided to worry about that later. Her main concern at the time was to find the cave. She continued east until she found it. This time she was able to get in without Requiem intercepting her. She slid into the cave, getting dirt all over the skirt that Discordia had given her on her third day with her new friends. She wondered what it was that they did at the courts. She was woken from her thoughts by the pain in her arm. She had used it to push herself up after jumping off of the horse. It didn't feel broken, but she knew it would hurt for a while. She couldn't help but laugh when she thought of the smirk that she would receive from Requiem if she were to complain about it. Though she did remember how he slowed the horse down when he noticed her pain, but then again that was before she elbowed him in the ribs.

Requiem rubbed his ribs as his horse walked through the forest, he couldn't help but admire Skyrin's nerve. He also couldn't help but remember the beautiful sweep of her long hair as she ran off into the woods. He wondered if she was thinking about him, and indeed she was. Back in the cave Skyrin was beginning to grow cold. She was actually beginning to long for the warmth of Requiem's arm around her waist and his chest against her back. It was beginning to grow dark, and Skyrin knew that she should go back. She emerged from the cave and set off to find Requiem.

Night was beginning to fall and Requiem was worried about Skyrin, the woods could be incredibly dangerous at night. Requiem wondered why he was so worried. Could it be that he cared for Skyrin? He had never truly cared for a girl before, that couldn't be it. It must have just been that she was in his protection, and it was his duty as a knight to keep her safe. He also knew that the others would be enraged if he lost her. They were really beginning to care for the girl. He definitely could see why. She had a strong spirit, something that any fey would admire, the prince must have noticed too. That was when he was struck by an alarming thought. Skyrin was alone, in the woods, at night. The prince wouldn't take her from the house because it was too close to spring territory, it would be too risky, but the woods were not the territory of a particular court, and the fact that it was winter would only increase his power. If the prince or one of his men caught Skyrin in the woods, there was almost no chance of getting her back. Requiem pushed his horse into a gallop. They took off between two trees and towards the cave near the creek.

It was almost pitch black in the forest and Skyrin was scared out of her mind. She kept hearing things and thought that she was seeing eyes. She had heard footsteps behind her for a few minutes and they were gradually growing louder. Skyrin thought about all of the things that she had read about in the books at the house. They could be trolls, or the prince's men, or any other beast with ill intentions. Skyrin had stopped running because of the dark, and was nearly in tears when she heard hoof beats right behind her. She screamed when she felt an arm hoisting her up, but sank into the warmth of a familiar chest and arm.

Skyrin was crying the whole way back to the house as Requiem whispered in her ear to calm her down. If she made too much noise in could attract trolls or goblins or something else that even Requiem didn't want to fight.

Requiem tied his horse to a tree inside of a fence and carried a sobbing Skyrin inside. Everyone was waiting in the front room of the small house. When Requiem walked in with Skyrin crying in his arms, the two were instantly swarmed by a nervous nixie, a worried satyr, a concerned demigoddess of discord, and an angry phooka. ShadowCat took Skyrin from Requiem and carried her to her room where he put her to sleep.

Meanwhile in the front room Requiem was being interrogated.

"Where were you guys?" asked Nessa.

"In the woods," calmly answered Requiem.

"What happened?" asked Discordia.

"She got lost. She was probably being followed by some goblins."

"Why were you two in the woods?" asked ShadowCat who had just returned from Skryin's room.

"She enjoys stealing away into the woods when all of you are gone. She must have gone too far and gotten lost after it got dark." Everyone seemed satisfied by that answer and turned to go to their rooms or back to their courts. Rubiee was the only one to stay.

"Why were you in the woods with her?" Requiem considered just telling Rubiee about Skyrin's lessons, but he knew that Rubiee would like his made up answer better.

"I followed her. I noticed that she was back yet and got worried."

"Requiem, just stay away from her. She trusts you, and we all care about her even if you only pretend to. I won't let her be just another checked off name on your list of pretty girls. She has enough problems even without having caught your eye," said Rubiee before leaving Requiem with his thoughts. Was he really just pretending to care about Skyrin, he had to admit that she was growing on him. For once, Rubiee was wrong about him.


	5. Favor

Hello, all my lovelies. I have a small favor that I would like to ask of you. Let me explain...

In my acting class, we all had to write, direct, and star in a video and we're having a little viewership contest. Whoever get's the most views wins 500 dollars.

So if you would like to help me, pleas watch the video at this link, and tell your friends to as well. I will let you know right now that we all have to do a series of five videos and this is my least favorite of my five.

watch?v=FEkvqlerfoE


	6. AN update

Hi, everyone. I would just like to thank any and all who watched my video for acting class and let you know that I have posted my second and third at

watch?v=hnx-UmeDHs0

watch?v=2BUryneHUQY

You guys have been such a big help with this (I'm in second, and might overtake first :)). More real chapters on the way.

Hope everyone had a great new years, 3 ya,

Hyasinth


	7. chapter 5

When Skyrin woke again, it was light outside. She climbed out of her bed and rubbed her sore arm. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and noticed that she looked awful. She had dark circles under her red eyes and her left arm was blooming black and blue. Her hair was a mess and her dress was torn. Skyrin strained her memory to figure out what happened and in a rush she remembered everything, training with Requiem, getting lost in the woods, ShadowCat putting her to sleep. Her stomach let out a small growl and she opened her door and padded down the hallway to the central area of the house. Generally Requiem would be waiting for her in the morning, but this time he wasn't there. Instead, she noticed Rubiee setting out a plate of food on the table.

"You must be hungry," she stated.

"Yes," Skyrin answered simply and sat down in front of the food. Rubiee sat across from her.

"Skyrin?" she asked and Skyrin looked up at her. "What happened yesterday?"

"Oh, um," Skyrin started nervously, "I don't really remember." That was a complete lie. She remembered everything, all of it, but she figured that Requiem had already told something else to Rubiee and she didn't want Rubiee to find out about her lessons, so she decided to play dumb. It was apparent that Rubiee didn't believe her, but she just let it go. She could ask ShadowCat later.

"Skyrin, do you remember my warning? About Requiem?"

"Yes, I do. Don't' worry, I'm always careful around him."

"Okay. I just don't want you to get hurt, Skyrin. He's not a bad person, but I just think that it would be wise for you to avoid him if possible."

"I understand," said Skyrin.

"Good. I'm needed at the court, but I wanted to talk to you first. I'll see you later, Skyrin." On that note, Rubiee got up and disappeared out the door in a cloud of glitter which left Skyrin coughing. When Skyrin's vision cleared, she noticed another figure standing off in the corner of the room.

"Requiem? What are you doing here?"

"It's been pretty quiet around recently, I haven't had any work to do, but I knew that if I were around when Rubiee woke up, I'd lose my head, so I disappeared for a while."

"That's good, I get lonely when it's just me."

"Well, I am pretty hard to live without." Skyrin chuckled at his joke and continued to eat in silence.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. It wasn't supposed to go like that. I'd expected to have you back to the house long before nightfall, but I guess that I underestimated you."

"Oh, so you're saying that this is my fault?" Skyrin joked.

"Yes, it is your fault," he played along and she tried to stay composed, but couldn't help but giggle as Requiem smirked at her.

"Are we still on for training?" she asked.

"If you think you're up to it. It can be a useful skill to learn how to fight when injured, but I don't want to make your arm any worse."

"I'll be fine, it's just bruised," she insisted. Skyrin was certainly a strong girl, a trait that Requiem very much admired. It was rare to find humans like her. As Requiem was considering all of her traits that he found enchanting, Skyrin felt a blush spread across her cheeks as she noticed him watching her and turned away to finish her food. Requiem continued to watch her until she finished the last bite and stood up. She put her empty plate in the corner and followed Requiem outside.

"What are we working on today?" she asked as they made their way over to the training area.

"Hand to hand," he stated simply as he stepped into the field that they usually trained in. He abruptly stopped and turned to face her. Having not expected Requiem's abrupt stop, Skyrin ran directly into his chest and felt his arm steady her as he almost fell.

"Let's start off simple. Make a fist," he said as Skyrin did. Requiem examined her hand and adjusted her thumb. "If you put it on the inside, you'll break it." After he'd helped Skyrin to perfect her fist, Requiem began teaching her some basic punches and footwork. He constantly had to fix her stance or motion, but Skyrin was doing pretty well for a beginner.

"Keep practicing, I'll be right back," he said and loped back to the house as Skyrin watched him retreat and mentally slapped herself. When he came back from the house, Requiem was holding a pillow (one of Rubiee's).

"What's that for?" asked Skyrin.

"Target," he answered and strapped the pillow to one of the bull's eye targets set up for archery. Skyrin approached it and waited for instructions from Requiem. She looked over at him to see what he wanted her to do, but was met with no immediate anwer.

"Well? Hit it," he told her and Skyrin did just that. She felt her fist connect with the pillow and next thing she knew she was trotting around clutching her wrist.

"Ow! I thought the point of this training was for me not to get hurt!" Requiem smirked and came up behind her. He caught her hand in his and worked it into a fist.

"You need to keep you wrist stiff, more like this," he explained as Skyrin whimpered.

"Can we try something else?"

"Alright. Let's work on kicks." He then went on to show her how to do a side kick. She went up and made her first attempt. She thrust her foot into the pillow, but stumbled back afterwards. She would have fallen, but Requiem caught her. He was hovering above her and she looked up at him. Then, in a breathless moment, he began to lower his face to hers and their lips met. Skyrin wrapped her arms around Requiem's neck and he pulled her closer to him. Neither of them was sure how long they stayed like that, but eventually they pulled apart. Skyrin looked into Requiem's eyes and he moved a hand to the side of her face. He ran his thumb over her cheekbone and pulled her to him for another kiss. She tangled her hands in his hair and deepened the kiss, but he pulled away.

"I'm sorry Skyrin, I shouldn't have done that," he said and started heading back towards the house, "Lessons are done for today." Skyrin watched his retreating form and, once he was back inside the house, turned around and wandered into the forest.

Requiem was so confused. He was always a lady's man, but he'd never felt exactly what he was feeling for Skyrin. He put a hand to his forehead and sighed. Could it be love? He wanted nothing more than to be with Skyrin, but he couldn't be good for her. He didn't want to hurt her, but he didn't want to be apart from her. He saddled his horse and galloped off to find something heroic to do.


End file.
